Curly, coily hair with tons of bounce is always cute. But there’s nothing wrong with wanting to sport straight, silky hair once in a while, too. I mean, that’s what hair straighteners are for, right?
But if you have naturally thick, coarse, curly hair, you’ll know that straightening your hair with a flat iron isn’t a walk in the park.
That straight, smooth hair you were going for? Likely not going to happen just like that.
More often than not, it can leave your hair rough and frizzy, especially if you don’t use products to tame it afterward.
Your hair can end up looking poofy even if you’re diligent with your passes with the straightening iron.
Sick of ending up with rough, poofy, frizzy hair when all you want are smooth locks?
Here’s how to reduce frizz after straightening natural hair.
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Why Does Hair Get Frizzy After Straightening?
Naturally curly hair, especially textures between the 4A and 4C range, are notoriously difficult to straighten.
You need a lot of perseverance to make it work and end up with straight, shiny hair.
But even if you do manage to straighten it with your flat iron, your hair might still suffer from frizz.
Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong with your hair – it happens to the best of us.
While your hair looks straight now, it could get poofy and rough to the touch a bit later.
Hair often gets frizzy after straightening it for multiple reasons.
Sometimes, it might be because of static or humidity.
Other times, it’s simply because you didn’t detangle your locks properly before you started straightening your hair.
But the most common reason for frizz developing after straightening your hair is dryness due to high-temperature levels.
When you use a heat styler with a raging temperature level (like a flat iron), it strips your healthy hair of the moisture in it, leaving it dehydrated and maybe even a little damaged.
When your hair has been damaged by heat, it’s going to be more susceptible to frizz.
And when there’s absolutely no moisture in your locks, a poofy appearance and rough texture are inevitable.
Help Prevent Frizz Even Before You Straighten Your Hair
There are steps you can take even before you straighten your hair to help prevent frizz and poofiness from ruining your hairstyle.
To do that, you need to protect your hair from heat damage, dryness, and matting.
Here are some things you can do:
Moisturizing Products
Wash your hair with moisturizing products before styling it.
Use a shampoo and conditioner infused with nourishing ingredients such as coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera, and more.
This will help smoothen the hair and make it easier to straighten later.
Cold Water
Finish your shower with cold water.
While hot temperatures can strip your hair of moisture, cold water does the opposite – it locks in all that moisture by sealing and flattening your hair cuticles.
It also adds shine and smoothness to the hair, helping to keep frizz at bay.
Proper Detangling
Detangle your hair properly with your fingers or a wide-tooth comb before straightening it.
If there are any knots and tangles in your locks as you glide the straightener through them, your hair will end up with a frizzy, matted look for sure.
Heat Protectant
Use a heat protectant before the straightener even touches your locks.
This helps shield your hair from intense heat, allowing it to stay healthy and hydrated even as you style it.
Recommended Post: Best Heat Protectant For 4C Hair
Ceramic Straighteners
Go for ceramic straighteners, which are known to be safer on the hair and incur less heat damage overall.
Do as few passes as possible on each section of hair too, to keep heat damage to a minimum.
But if you do all these and still end up with frizzy hair after straightening it, don’t worry.
There are other things you can try to eliminate the frizz.
How To Reduce Frizz After Straightening Natural Hair
Here are some of the most effective ways to reduce frizz after straightening natural hair:
Leave Your Hair To Cool Completely Before Touching It
When you transform your hair from curly to sleek and straight, you might be tempted to touch it and twirl your locks around your fingers right away.
But playing around with your hair right after you heat style it is a surefire way to make it frizzy and lose its shape.
Make sure your hair settles for a few minutes after straightening before you touch it.
That way, it can completely cool down and lock the straight texture in before you manipulate it.
Waiting until your hair is completely cool is especially important if you plan on going outside.
If you live in a hot or humid area and you step out immediately after straightening your hair, it’s likely to frizz up right away.
One way to cool your hair down quickly is to use the cool setting on your hairdryer and do a quick blow-drying session after you straighten your hair.
This will lock in the straightness of each section of hair while adding shine too!
Smooth Down The Frizz With An Anti-Frizz Product
Another way to tackle it is to treat it like any other hair type that encounters frizz: use a hair product that can tame it.
Moisturizing leave-ins and creams can help smoothen frizzy hair, making it smooth and flyaway-free.
But be careful what kind of product you use on straightened hair.
If you get your hair too wet and greasy, you’ll lose the shape of your styled hair, and it could go back to being wavy or curly in seconds.
Look for lightweight leave-ins and serums that can help you achieve smooth hair without completely obliterating the straightness of your locks.
Argan oil is a terrific smoothing oil that is effective yet lightweight.
It’s filled with moisturizing vitamins and antioxidants that protect your hair from damage, and consequently, frizz.
The Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anti-Frizz Serum is one argan oil-infused product you can use to tame your hair after straightening it.
It makes the hair smoother and more manageable, eliminating frizz while it’s at it.
It’s a great way to lightly hydrate your hair for extra shine and strength too!
Another thing you can do to make sure you don’t use too much product on your delicate hair is to spray a little bit of your leave-in mist onto your hairbrush and glide it through your hair.
This moisturizes the hair just enough to tame frizz and flyaways.
An excellent leave-in spray you can use for this is the Verb Leave-In Mist.
It’s infused with moringa seed oil and argan oil to detangle hair and keep frizz at bay.
It even boosts hair elasticity to make it more bouncy and luscious.
Seal Your Cuticles With Oil
Oils are also great at sealing moisture in and locking humidity out of hair, ensuring that you will have sleek, frizz-free hair for as long as possible.
You can use natural, lightweight oils like grapeseed or sweet almond oil, but you can get one from your fave beauty brand too.
One that I love to use on my hair every time I straighten it is the OGX Extra Strength Renewing + Argan Oil of Morocco Penetrating Hair Oil Treatment (can you tell I’m an argan oil fanatic?).
You only need a few drops of this healing oil to hydrate, add shine, and smoothen out your locks post-straightening.
The best part about this oil is that it was formulated with coarse, thick hair in mind.
It’s perfect for those with curly hair that needs extra hydration to keep it tamed and smooth.
Put a few drops into your palm, run your hands together to warm the oil up, and then apply straight to your locks.
Concentrate your application to the ends of your hair, likely the driest part of your locks.
Sleep On Silk Or Satin Sheets
If you want to maintain how straight and silky your hair is for a few more days, make sure you don’t get it all tangled as you sleep.
Switch out your usual cotton sheets and pillowcases for silk or satin.
On these fabrics, your hair strands won’t create friction or snag on each other.
They’ll simply slide down gracefully without frizzing up.
When you wake up, gently finger-comb your hair.
There will likely be no tangles thanks to the silk, but even if there are, they’ll be super easy to smooth over!
Don’t Brush Your Hair Too Often
Brushing your hair once it has completely cooled down from the straightening process is okay.
But doing it too often is something you don’t want to do.
The more you brush your hair unnecessarily, the more static you’re creating in your locks.
And when hair meets static, some strands will get a bit of a lift, creating a noticeable poofiness and frizz.
To ensure your mane falls down your back gracefully without a poofy appearance, leave your hair alone when you don’t have to brush it.
When you want to get rid of tangles, use your fingers or a wide-tooth comb instead.
Conclusion
Ladies with curly hair should be able to straighten their locks whenever they please, the same way women with straight hair can curl their locks if they want to.
But it’s easier said than done.
Frizz is a part of the experience, and as long as you don’t follow our tips above, you may be stuck with rough, poofy but “straight” hair whenever you style it with a heat-styling appliance.
Just remember the two things that make straightened hair look frizzy: high heat temperatures and dryness.
Make sure you do your best to protect your hair from the raging heat and keep it moisturized with a few good-quality products when you’re done styling it.
So, if you’ve been wondering how to reduce frizz after straightening natural hair, the tips shared in this post will help you get the full effect of your sleek, silky, newly straightened mane.